NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild at Winnipeg Jets
Overview
The Minnesota Wild are in Winnipeg where they take on division rivals the Winnipeg Jets. The Wild have played the Jets well over the past few seasons winning 6 of the last 8 meetings including 3 of the last 4 played in Winnipeg.
Head to Head Trends
Wild are 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
Over is 3-1-2 in the last 6 meetings.
Winnipeg Jets (-140)
The Winnipeg Jets are 4th in the Central Division with 64 points 12 points behind the 1st place Nashville Predators. The Jets are in bit of a slump right now losing 6 of their last 7 games and allowed 28 goals over those 7 games which is just plain old bad. The Jets play a pretty tight defensive game allowing 2.6 goals per game but they have had trouble putting the puck in the net at times this season averaging 2.8 goals per game which actually not all that bad but it seems like when they win they win big like a couple weeks ago when they beat the Panthers 8-2.
Winnipeg Jets Trends
Jets are 1-6 in their last 7 overall.
Jets are 1-4 in their last 5 vs. Western Conference.
Minnesota Wild (+120)
The Minnesota Wild are 5th in the Central Division with 58 points and are 3 points out of the final playoff spot in the West. I guess the one thing the Wild have going for them is that they are probably the hottest team in the league right now winning their last 6 straight games outscoring their opponents 16-6. The Wild have an ok offense averaging 2.7 goals per game but they do have the 4th highest shots per game so maybe they will start getting a few more lucky bounces over the last couple months of the season. The Wild also have just an ok defense allowing 2.8 goals per game but they actually have the lowest shots allowed per game so again it seems like they might be due for a few bounces to start going their way.
Minnesota Wild Trends
Wild are 6-0 in their last 6 overall.
Wild are 12-3 in their last 15 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.
Conclusion
I’m going with the Minnesota Wild over the Jets in this one. The Wild are probably the hottest team in the league right now and we’re getting them as a +120 underdog so even though they are playing back to back games I still think there’s some solid value there.
Free Pick: Minnesota Wild +120 at Bovada (Most books have it at +115)